“Hmm…”
In the middle of the night, my eyes suddenly shot open. I felt an intense hunger. It wasn’t the kind of hunger that could be solved with just snacks.
But if I tried to go eat rice now, Bora outside would definitely tell me not to. She’d give me a long lecture about how late-night snacks are bad for my health and then force me back into bed. It was painfully obvious.
I got out of bed in my dinosaur pajamas. I had prepared for this moment. I squeezed my way through the stuffed animals. The moonlight was shining so brightly that if I just opened the curtains, I could see everything in the room without any trouble.
And strangely, I felt like my vision had improved. As I squeezed into the pile of stuffed animals, my treasure trove was revealed. It was a treasure trove filled with a mountain of food. I dug my hand in and started searching for a large, extra-large cup of ramen.
I had bought these as backups for situations like this when I was buying snacks. I really was a genius.
“Gotcha!”
Having successfully found the cup ramen, I now had to start my adventure. If I ate the ramen here, the smell would definitely give me away. And there was no hot water either. Ever since I almost caused a disaster trying to get hot water from the water dispenser last time, I had turned off the hot water option on the dispenser on this floor.
To turn it back on, I’d have to ask Bora or Haru for permission. Only then could I get hot water. What a hassle. Adults like me don’t make such mistakes.
Of course, the mistake I made before was just bad luck. It was the kind of mistake you couldn’t avoid no matter what.
Anyway, with these thoughts in mind, I slipped on my slippers and quietly sneaked outside. I tried to minimize any noise and even held my breath. Acting like this made me feel like a spy from a movie.
The office door was wide open, and bright light was pouring out. I tiptoed down the hallway and peeked inside the office. Bora was nowhere to be seen. I quickly passed through the office and got on the elevator. My destination was the restaurant on the first floor.
Since there were people on night duty, the restaurant in this building stayed open late. Of course, only the vending machines and tables were available, and the rest of the facilities were locked up. But at least there was hot water, so I could eat my cup ramen properly.
When I arrived on the first floor, I started moving my short legs toward the restaurant. In the lobby, I could see the security guards protecting the building. Thanks to my small stature, I could move around the lobby without being noticed. And the guards mostly looked outside, not inside the building.
After successfully reaching the restaurant, I chuckled to myself and started unwrapping the cup ramen. Just thinking about it made my mouth water. It felt like eating ramen while on night watch. The temperature was slightly lower, and it was the middle of the night.
I poured the soup into the cup ramen and got hot water from the dispenser. I had already brought a pair of wooden chopsticks, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
But then a thought struck me. I was alone in this dark space. No sounds could be heard. A creeping sense of fear started to rise within me. Scenes from horror movies began to pop into my head.
This can’t be…
But I couldn’t give up on the ramen. I decided to eat it as quickly as possible and get out. It seemed like some time had passed, so I started slurping the ramen like a vacuum. Being hungry, the ramen stuck to my mouth as I ate. There’s no better seasoning than hunger.
Clunk!
But just as I finished the broth, I heard someone entering the restaurant. I quickly hid under the table. Could it really be a ghost? I squeezed my eyes shut and wished for the ghost to leave quickly.
Luckily, I heard the mysterious presence leaving the restaurant, probably after grabbing something. After holding my breath for a few minutes, I quickly left the restaurant.
Huff huff!
I was so tense that even though it was cold, I was drenched in sweat. Who could have entered the restaurant? I thought it might have been a ghost. I rushed into the elevator.
Ding dong!
The elevator announced that it had arrived at my floor. Only then could I breathe a sigh of relief.
But as the elevator doors opened, I saw Bora standing there with her arms crossed. Her expression didn’t look good, and she seemed really angry.
“Uh…”
“Hana, where have you been? You can’t just leave without saying anything.”
“Ahh!”
I was caught by Bora’s hand and dragged into the office. I realized that Bora was much scarier than any ghost.
—————————————–
Starlight Cherry Tomato is a delicacy in the world of food.
It was a product that wasn’t worth much.
Sure, it had the taste of cherry tomatoes, and it was tastier than most cherry tomatoes, but that was about it.
In Korea, people would say they had a proper meal only if they had warm rice, a stew, and some meat side dishes.
Given that Koreans even greet each other with, “Have you eaten?” it’s no surprise they take their food seriously.
Nowadays, with rising prices, things have changed, but there’s a reason people online say they’d rather have a hot bowl of soup with green peppers, onions, and all sorts of veggies than a hamburger or instant food.
Kim Sehee also had the mindset of using it as a substitute for meals only when it was tough to eat properly, like in the military, or as a quick breakfast replacement for cereal.
Some people just didn’t like tomatoes to begin with, and since Korea couldn’t mass-produce them like the U.S. due to limited land, the price couldn’t be set too low.
When the price was set at 5,000 won, it was affordable for those who didn’t have time to eat, offering a decent convenience store lunch box. If you didn’t like lunch boxes, you could get cup noodles, triangle kimbap, and finish with a hot bar for a similar price.
In terms of feeling full, it was way more satisfying than cherry tomatoes. That’s why Kim Sehee didn’t allocate much land for growing them.
But as time passed, she realized she was wrong. The sales kept increasing and never slowed down.
At one point, she thought sales would hit a plateau, but the current sales growth was soaring as if mocking her earlier assumption.
In daily life, Starlight Cherry Tomatoes were widely used. They were a hit among doctors in hospitals.
Given the hospital environment where staff had to drop everything and run when called, cherry tomatoes became an essential meal replacement for doctors.
They also became the best diet for patients too weak to eat. Feeding proper meals to patients who couldn’t even lift a spoon was incredibly difficult.
And even if they could eat, their digestive systems weren’t like those of healthy people. Eating half a bowl of rice could still cause digestion issues. For them, cherry tomatoes were the perfect solution.
The only downside was that eating them continuously could lead to nutritional imbalances, so they had to be combined with other diets. But the benefits were so overwhelming that the downsides were easily overlooked.
Currently, cherry tomatoes were the best diet for emergency workers. Firefighters, medical staff, police—almost every field wanted Starlight Cherry Tomatoes.
And the ones who wanted them the most were hunters. Whether entering low-level or high-level gates, the common issue for hunters was food. Once they entered, it took at least a week to come out.
Without mana, entering a gate was impossible. That’s why guilds hired porters who couldn’t fight but could carry mana. They carried food and weapons for the fighting hunters.
But the existence of Starlight Cherry Tomatoes didn’t eliminate the need for porters. Instead, replacing rice with cherry tomatoes freed up space for potions and other essentials, increasing hunting efficiency.
With all the good news coming in, Kim Sehee made a decision. She would go all-in on cherry tomato production.
She made a call and said,
“Please expand the production line for the cherry tomato factory.”
– Yes, boss. How much should we expand?
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. When the tide comes in, you row hard.
“Ten times… no, fifty times the current capacity.”
– Th-that much?
“I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but please proceed.”
– Understood. We’ll start right away.
Kim Sehee hung up the phone, stretched, and stood up. She could vividly see herself raking in money with cherry tomatoes.
